Apparatus for applying a wire coil to a fine wire strand

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for applying a wire coil to a fine wire strand, in which the fine strand to be wound is drawn through the axis of a rotatable hollow shaft which is arranged coaxially with the supply reel for the coiling wire, this supply reel being mounted within an open ended pot receptacle joined to the shaft and rotating therewith, wire guiding and braking means preferably in the form of radially extending disks or rings being inserted in the path of the coiling wire as it is drawn from the supply reel over the guide and brake means to a winding point adjacent the front or exit end of the hollow shaft.

United States Patent Dismon et al.

[541 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A WIRE COIL TO A FINE WIRE STRAND [72]Inventors: Peter Dismon, Porselen; Heinz Jansen, Kirchhoven, both ofGermany [73] Assignee: Glanzstoff AG, Wuppertal, Germany 22 Filed: July13,1971

21 Appl.No.: 162,060

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 2,457,636 12/1948 Bouget ..57/162,602,281 7/1952 Bunch ..57/l7 X 3,282,037. 11/1966 Barnett et a1...57/1 8 3,493,017 2/1970 Govaert ..57/18 X 3,512,350 5/1970 Lukas..57/18 Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Attorney-Johnston, Root, OKeeffe,Keil, Thompson & Shurtleff [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for applying a wirecoil to a fine wire strand, in which the fine strand to be wound isdrawn through the axis of a rotatable hollow shaft which is arrangedcoaxially with the supply reel for the coiling wire, this supply reelbeing mounted within an open ended pot receptacle joined to the shaftand rotating therewith, wire guiding and braking means preferably in theform of radially extending disks or rings being inserted in the path ofthe coiling wire as it is drawn from the supply reel over the guide andbrake means to a winding point adjacent the front or exit end of thehollow shaft.

16 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures P A TENTEDHBI 3 1 I972 SHEU 2 [IF 2 FIG.3

INVENTORS: P ETER D ISM O N HEINZ JANSEN ATT'YS 1 APPARATUS FOR APPLYINGA WIRE COIL TO A FINE WIRE STRAND The expression fine wire strand isemployed in this specification to define a structure composed of two ormore individual wires, which can consist of a single-ply wire strand, ofa wire cable built up of two or more strands of wires or which can alsoconsist of single wires lying parallel or substantially parallel to oneanother and having substantially no twist, forming a homogeneous cord orrope of generally uniform strength in either case.

Devices for applying a wire coil to a fine wire strand by throwing orwrapping one wire around a thin wire strand being conducted through anelongated hollow bore or axis of the device are in themselves known.Some of these devices operate according to the socalled flyer principle,i.e. wherein one element, which consists of a revolving arm with guideholes or grooves for the coiling wire or a revolving disk with one ormore bores in the vicinity of its edge, is rotated at a speed adjustedto the chosen feed rate of the wrapped wire and the desired pitch of thecoiling wire. This rotating element lifts the coiling wire from a freelyturnable but braked supply reel borne coaxially to the advancing wirestrand or cable and winds this coiling wire simultaneously at thewinding point, i.e., at the point at which the coiling wire runs ontothe fine wire strand or cable as a core receiving the coiled 'wirewrapped therearound. In another coiling or wire wrapping process, thesupply reel (or reels) for the coiling wire is borne in a rotor by meansof a coil cradle, from which the coiling 'wire is guided axially to thewinding point. The fine wire strand or core cable runs from a differentsupply reel arranged outside the rotor axially through a suitable boreon the axis and is then directly conducted to the circumference of therotor, along an inner surface thereof to the opposite end of the rotorand finally to the winding point where it is wrapped about the coilingwire and is drawn off in such a manner that the fine wire strand isstraight and the coiling wire takes on the desired-helical or coiledform.

Such known devices, especially the last-mentioned device, have acomplicated structure and arrangement of parts. The first describeddevice makes necessary a separate bearing of the flyer and supply reel,in which generally the flyer is part of a central revolving spindle onwhich the supply reel, in turn, is borne freely turnable but in a brakedmanner. The wire tensioning takes place through the braking of thesupply reel in this instance while the braking force itself depends on anumber of influencing factors changing in part during the operation ofthe spindle or at any rate is subject to possible variations. Because ofthe resulting changes in wire tension it was not possible to actuallyachieve equal or uniform working conditions, especially in the case ofseveral similar working points, or else these equal working conditionswere only infrequently achieved with great difficulty. As a result,considerable differences in the quality of the finished coiling wereoften observed from place to place along the length of the coil wrappedstrand or rope. The second type of device for interwinding the finestrand and coiling wire is likewise extremely expensive and complicatedin its construction, requires much space and is very limited in itsturning rate. These devices are also difficult to operate in a uniformmanner.

It has now been found, in accordance with the present invention thatthese disadvantages of prior devices can be surprisingly avoided bymeans of employing a flyerless construction of the coiling or wrappingapparatus. The device of the invention for applying a wire coil to afine wire strand thus includes a rotatable hollow shaft adapted toreceive the fine wire strand being wound in combination with means fordrawing this strand axially through said shaft, a rotationallysymmetrical pot receptacle joined securely to the shaft for rotationtherewith and being open toward the wire exit end of the shaft whichprojects axially outwardly from the pot receptacle, a supply reel forthe coiling wire seated in a fixed position on the shaft concentricallywithin the pot receptacle, and wire guiding and braking means positionedalong the axis of the shaft between the supply reel and the axiallyexposed exit end of said shaft, these means including at least twoannular run-over rings together with at least one disk brake means whichinteract with the opposing inner peripheral wall surface of the potreceptacle to apply a resilient braking pressure to the coiling wirebeing drawn from the supply reel to a winding-on point adjacent the exitend of the hollow shaft.

The hollow shaft is preferably conically narrowed at its exit end inorder to better accommodate the path of the coiling wire as itapproaches this end of the shaft, i.e., so that the coiling wire can bebrought onto the core or central strand being wound at an acute angleaway from or opposite to the direction of wire travel. An axial insertwith a narrow bore at the tip or exit end of the hollow shaft is also ofadvantage in controlling the draw or pull on the fine wire strand.

In the apparatus of the invention, the pot receptacle surrounding thehollow'shaft is cylindrical from its bottorn up to a height or axiallength which corresponds approximately to the length of the supply reelfor the coiling wire, and from this length onwardly toward its open endwidens conically outwardly, the total height or length of the receptaclebeing about 1.5 to 2.2 times the length of the supply reel.

The construction of the invention also preferably provides clampingmeans including, for example, an annular nut which can be tightened byscrewing it on a threaded portion at the exit end of the hollow shaftand which simultaneously fixes the guiding and braking means in placeand, in so doing, also fixes the supply reel inside the pot receptaclesurrounding the hollow shaft, for example, such that the supply reel ispressed with its rear flange against the inner base or covered end ofthe pot.

The braking means are preferably in the shape of disks which can consistof a wearproof and resilient plastic material, for example a suitableelastomeric molded polymer such as a plasticized polyvinyl chloride(PVC), tetrafluorethylene or similar tough, flexible materials. Thesebraking disks can also be coinposed of annularly positioned bristlesarranged next to one another in several layers and projecting radiallyoutward from the periphery of a flat retaining disk. The bristles can benatural fiber bristles such as animal bristles, synthetic fibrousbristles such as polyarnide bristles, metal bristles as formed by shortsteel wires or the like, and similar stiff but resiliently positionedbristles.

In one special embodiment of the invention, the spacing of the rearflange or face of the supply reel from the inner base end of the pot orelse the spacing between front flange or face of the supply reel and thefirst run-over disk or ring is adjustable, whereby the axial position ofthe brake disk or disks in the front part of the pot receptacle isvaried in such a way that with the conical formation of this front partof the pot, the braking force likewise changes in a determinable manner.In this manner, the use of interchangeable spacing means presents asimple method for accurately adjusting the braking force. The brakingforce is also variable by other means, for example such that with equalbrake disk measurement, one can vary the difference in diameter betweenthe brake disk or disks and the diameter of the disk or disks guiding ortensioning the coiling wire being drawn thereover. The greater theeffective diameter of the disk or disks, i.e., with an increasingdifference between the two diameters, the greater becomes the brakingforce and vice versa.

The invention is explained in greater detail in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view, in partly schematic form, throughthe longitudinal axis of the wrapping or coiling device of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged view of one disk brake embodimentcontaining bristles in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow sheet generally illustrating the wrapping orcoiling units of the invention with means to draw the wound producttherefrom.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the hollow tubular shaft 1 is illustrated ina vertical position, the shaft being joined or securely connected to apot 2 consisting of the lower cylindrical part 3 and the upper conicalpart 4 opening outwardly. In the drawing, the hollow shaft 1 and the potreceptacle 2 are represented as being made of one piece, which isgenerally recommended when operating at rotational speeds of about10,000 to 15,000 rpm or even higher speeds. The pot can also be madeseparately of materials especially adapted to resist the high strainimposed thereon and can then be connected with the hollow shaft in anysuitable manner at its base or lower closed end 5 such that a faultlessrotational balancing becomes possible. The channel or bore la of thehollow shafts terminates, in the embodiment shown, in an inserted nozzlemember 6 converging in the form of a funnel or cone 6a down to thenarrower diameter channel or bore 6b. The terminal or nozzle end of thehollow shaft is contained with the outer element 7 which is firmlyconnected, e.g., in threaded attachment, and axially aligned with theremainder of the hollow shaft 1. This nozzle 7 also contains at itsconi- The hollow shaft or spindle 1 is supported rotatably in two ballbearings 9 and 10 inserted at a distance from each other with the helpof spacing sleeves 1 1 and 12 in a bearing housing 21 securely connectedwith a horizontal base frame 13, this bearing assembly being closed offunderneath with a cover or cap 14 in which there is a suitablepositioned sealing and packing ring 15 and 16. Another packing ring 17is positioned adjacent the upper bearing 9. The bearings 9 and 10 can belubricated with a suitable oil or grease introduced through the closablelube hole 22 in the housing 21. An upper sealing-ring is not essentialin this vertical position of the shaft 1 and housing 21. At the lowerend of the shaft 1 below the base plate or frame 13, a pinion or toothedcollar 18 is secured with the aid of a spline or key 18a or the like,this pinion or collar 18 serving as a driven means in which thereengages a toothed belt or other positive drive means (not represented).The pinion 18 is fastened tightly with the aid of a ring nut 19 and aretaining ring or washer 20.

In the lower cylindrical portion 3 of the pot 2, there is firmly seatedon shaft 1 the supply reel 23 carrying the coiling wire 24 between theend flanges 25 and 26. A first run-over ring 27, a braking ring 28 or28, an intermediate supporting or spacing ring 29, a second braking ring30 or 30' and finally a second run-over ring 31 are all clamped in axialsequence above and together with supply reel 23 with the aid of anannular nut 33 which can be tightened on thread 34 of the hollow shaft 1and which is preferably locked or secured against turning once the reeland various disks or rings are locked in'place. The run-over rings 27and 31, the two brake rings 28 and 30 (or 30' and the intermediate ring9 are securely connected with 'one another by means of screws or bolts32. These screws or bolts 32 extend only a short distance into thesupply reel 23 so that after the nut 33 has been unlocked and removed,these screws can be just withdrawn from reel 23 while still beinginserted and preferably threaded in the lowermost ring or disk member37, thereby permitting all of the disks or rings to bewithdrawn as asingle unit. The supply reel 23 which is merely slipped over the shaft 1can then also be readily withdrawn or interchanged with another reel, orif desired, such supply reels for the coiling wire can be separatelyfastened to the shaft or the pot receptacle. A single clamping meanssuch as nut 33 is of particular advantage in permitting rapidinterchange of supply reels and or various disk members includingbrakes, run-over rings and spacing members.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing, the brake discs are shown schematically in thesense that there are represented on one side of the vertical section thebrake rings 28 and 30 consisting of a wearproof plastic, e.g., PVCdisks, and on the other side the brake rings 28 and 30' with bristlesextending radially outwardly from their edges to bend slightly incontact with the inner wall surface 35 of the conical part 4 of pot 2.The disks with bristles are especially well suited for very high turningrates, i.e., very high draw-off speeds of the wound wire 36, while theflat-shaped solid disks have special advantages for braking at lowerdraw-off speeds of the wound wire cable 36.

As shown in FIG. 2, the brake disks 30' provided with bristles 30apreferably contain a large number of these bristles densely packed intotwo or more rows and tightly held between two halves 30b and 30'c of theplate portion of the disk. For example, the bristles 30a can be bondedor set in an annular holding member 30'd to prevent them from being tooeasily pulled out as they frictionally engage and apply tension to thecoiling wire 37 in running contact therewith.

As will be apparent from the foregoing discussion taken with FIGS. 1 and3, the core strand or cable 38, on which the coiling wire 37 is wrappedor wound, may in fact be a multi-wire wound strand proceeding from aprevious axially aligned wrapping or coiling device as indicated inphantom in FIG. 3. Likewise, a large number of these devices can beinstalled in parallel and operated at the same turning and drawing ratesby the motors or other adjustable drive means 39 and 40, respectively.Thus, an initial core strand can be gradually built up into amulti-wound wire cable or rope.

The particular device illustrated in FIG. 1 also has two brake disksarranged one over the other separated by the intermediate ring 29.Depending on the desired run-on tension at the hollow nipple 8 i.e., atthe winding-on point just beyond this nipple, it is possible .tooperate, if feasible, with only one brake disk and in this case theintermediate ring 9 can be omitted. It may, however, be expedient toprovide three or more brake disks, preferably with intermediate rings orspacer disks between each brake. Also, by interlaying intermediate disksor plates dimensioned to provide a certain predetermined thicknessbetween the upper flange 26 of the reel23 and the first run-over ring27, it is possible, as a consequence of the conically widening upperpart 4 of the pot 2, to adjust the braking force at any desired leveland very sensitively. With only slight changes in the axial position ofa brake disk, e.g., so as to vary its pressure in interacting with theconical wall surface 35, the braking tension is easily changed. It isalso feasible to separately fasten the supply reel and the guide-brakemeans on the hollow shaft so that the braking means can be axiallyadjusted independently of the supply reel, e.g., by separate threadingand/or clamping means. Other variations will be readily apparent inachieving the desired axial shifting and adjustment of the outer edgesor bristles of the brake disks on the conical part of the pot.

Because of the overhead draw-ofi of the coiling wire 37, indicated by adot-and-dash line only in the drawing, the tension on wire 37 tends tochange during the unwinding of the supply reel 23, as a result of thechanging geometry, i.e., the tension on the wire 37 changes in such away that it becomes greater as the winding diameter of the wire onsupply reel 23 becomes smaller. In general, this is not of appreciableimportance provided that the tension is sufficiently high at thecommencement of the process. By choosing the dimensions of the reel insuch away that the ratio of the diameter of the fully wound reel 23 and24 to that of the empty reel, i.e., the core diameter of the reel body23, is as small as possible, then the tensions as between the full andempty reels do not differ very greatly. Thus, for example, with adiameter ratio of 100 mm. to 80 mm. form the beginning to the end of theunwinding reel 23, there has been measured an increase of only about 40grams (force) over the initial tension.

Therefore, it is generally desirable to maintain this diameter ratio offully wound reel to empty reel below about 5:4.

The fine wire strand 38 wound about at the exit from hollow nipple 8with the wire 37 is thereupon conducted as the wound wire 36 through apressing die or compression bore 41, wherein the helically wound wirereceives its final carefully shaped form adapted exactly to thecircumference of the fine wire strand 38 and then drawn and wound forcollection on the collecting spool means 42, if desired with guide ornip rolls 43 and/or other drawing or tensioning means.

The means for feeding the initial fine wire strand or core wire frombelow is quite conventional as are the drawing means illustrated in FIG.3. The present invention is therefore adapted to be used in combinationwith any such feed and draw means, particularly since a separate feedand/or draw located outside of the device itself is not required for thecooling or wrapping wires. The assembly and operation of the deviceaccording to the invention is extremely simplified, much lower in costand designed to provide excellent uniformity in sequential and/orparallel winding and coiling operations as well as in asingle windingoperation.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. Apparatus for applying a wire coil to a fine wire strand whichcomprises:

a rotatable hollow shaft adapted to receive the fine wire strand beingwound in combination with means for drawing said strand axially throughsaid shaft; rotationally symmetrical pot receptacle joined securely tosaid shaft for rotation therewith and being open toward the wire exitend of said shaft which projects axially outwardly from said potreceptacle;

a supply reel for the coiling wire seated in a fixed position on saidshaft concentrically within said pot receptacle; and

wire guiding and braking means positioned along the axis of said shaftbetween said supply reel and the axially exposed exit end of said shaftincluding at least two annular run-over rings together with at least onedisk brake means which interacts with the opposing inner peripheral wallsurface of said pot receptacle to apply a resilient braking pressure tosaid coiling wire being drawn from said reel to a winding-on pointadjacent the exit end of said shaft.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pot receptacle issubstantially cylindrical over its axial length adjacent its closed endcorresponding to the enclosed axial length of said supply reel and thenwidens conically outwardly to its opposite open end.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the total axial length ofsaid pot receptacle is about 1.5 to 2.2 times the axial length of thesupply reel.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said braking means areadjustably insertable on said hollow shaft through interchangeablespacing members.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said supply reel is removablyinsertable over the exit end of the shaft and is fastened within saidpot receptacle by clamping means.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim wherein said clamping means include atightening nut-threaded onto the exit end of said hollow shaft to engageand clamp,

said supply reel between said wire guiding and braking means on one sideof said reel and the closed base end of said pot receptacle on the otherside of said reel.

7. Apparatus as claimedin claim 6 wherein individual braking disks areclamped between run-over rings arranged on either side thereof along thehollow shaft axis.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a brake disk cooperating withthe wall of the pot receptacle is composed of a resilient, wearproofplastic material.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein said brake disk is composedof a plasticized polyvinyl chloride.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a brake disk cooperatingwith the wall of the pot receptacle includes a large number of bristlesarranged densely next to one another in a plurality of layers projectingradially from the outer edge of the disk.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said bristles are fibrous,stifl' animal bristles.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said bristles are fibrous,stiff polyamide bristles.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said bristles are steelbristles.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said braking means areadjustable insertable on said hollow shaft through interchangeablespacing members.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hoilow shaft isconically narrowed at its exit end where it also contains at least oneaxial insert narrowing the size of the hollowbore through which the finewire strand is axially drawn.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein coiling wire is wound on thesupply reel such that the ratio of the diameter of the full reel to thatof the empty reel is not substantially greater than 5:4.

1. Apparatus for applying a wire coil to a fine wire strand whichcomprises: a rotatable hollow shaft adapted to receive The fine wirestrand being wound in combination with means for drawing said strandaxially through said shaft; a rotationally symmetrical pot receptaclejoined securely to said shaft for rotation therewith and being opentoward the wire exit end of said shaft which projects axially outwardlyfrom said pot receptacle; a supply reel for the coiling wire seated in afixed position on said shaft concentrically within said pot receptacle;and wire guiding and braking means positioned along the axis of saidshaft between said supply reel and the axially exposed exit end of saidshaft including at least two annular run-over rings together with atleast one disk brake means which interacts with the opposing innerperipheral wall surface of said pot receptacle to apply a resilientbraking pressure to said coiling wire being drawn from said reel to awinding-on point adjacent the exit end of said shaft.
 2. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said pot receptacle is substantiallycylindrical over its axial length adjacent its closed end correspondingto the enclosed axial length of said supply reel and then widensconically outwardly to its opposite open end.
 3. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 2 wherein the total axial length of said pot receptacle is about1.5 to 2.2 times the axial length of the supply reel.
 4. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 2 wherein said braking means are adjustably insertableon said hollow shaft through interchangeable spacing members. 5.Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said supply reel is removablyinsertable over the exit end of the shaft and is fastened within saidpot receptacle by clamping means.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5wherein said clamping means include a tightening nut threaded onto theexit end of said hollow shaft to engage and clamp said supply reelbetween said wire guiding and braking means on one side of said reel andthe closed base end of said pot receptacle on the other side of saidreel.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein individual brakingdisks are clamped between run-over rings arranged on either side thereofalong the hollow shaft axis.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 whereina brake disk cooperating with the wall of the pot receptacle is composedof a resilient, wearproof plastic material.
 9. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 8 wherein said brake disk is composed of a plasticized polyvinylchloride.
 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a brake diskcooperating with the wall of the pot receptacle includes a large numberof bristles arranged densely next to one another in a plurality oflayers projecting radially from the outer edge of the disk. 11.Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said bristles are fibrous,stiff animal bristles.
 12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein saidbristles are fibrous, stiff polyamide bristles.
 13. Apparatus as claimedin claim 10 wherein said bristles are steel bristles.
 14. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said braking means are adjustably insertableon said hollow shaft through interchangeable spacing members. 15.Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hollow shaft is conicallynarrowed at its exit end where it also contains at least one axialinsert narrowing the size of the hollow bore through which the fine wirestrand is axially drawn.
 16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 whereincoiling wire is wound on the supply reel such that the ratio of thediameter of the full reel to that of the empty reel is not substantiallygreater than 5:4.